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Asked by yazzy.12 to Delma on 4 Dec 2015. This question was also asked by Biology.com, Liam, Evie.G :), purplepanda, #Monkanaut Twin, daisy the dinosawr, josip.
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Delma Childers answered on 4 Dec 2015:
I study quite a few, but the main one is Sphingomonas desiccabilis. It’s an incredible survivalist – its normal home is the desert, so it survives extremely hot and dry conditions during the day and extreme cold at night. It can be dried down for weeks and revived without a problem, so it’s perfect to send up to ISS. Especially since launch windows can change or other delays can pop up with a mission, so my organism is happy to chill while launches are rescheduled. S. desiccabilis also mines rock for essential elements, like iron, so it performs a useful task that we’d like to know more about in space.
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Comments
yazzy.12 commented on :
that is really interesting
how do you dry Sphingomonas
Delma commented on :
We tend to leave it out to dry in something called a flow hood – this is a very clean work space with filtered air to keep our samples pure. There is also special equipment that can do this – a desiccator or a lyophilizer would work – but we don’t use these as often.